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Woman's Hour

Dr Precious Lunga on Jon Snow's Alzheimer's, Vaginal microbiome, Mrs Dickens

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 18 June 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The latest public version of ChatGPT can be made to generate sexualised images or depict scenes of graphic violence with a simple prompt, researchers have told the BBC. British AI security startup Mindgard figured out how to make ChatGPT create graphic pictures by slightly altering a widely-shared instruction, or prompt, which was originally designed to produce humorous results. To find out more, Anita Rani speaks to Technology correspondent Chris Vallance and Mindgard's Peter Garraghan. A spokesperson for Open AI said: "We take these reports seriously. After investigating this trend, we’ve introduced additional safeguards against this type of prompt. Our safety systems are designed to block potentially harmful images that are uploaded to ChatGPT and we analyse whether the AI generated image violates our policies before we show the image to the user. We also combine automated systems and human review to identify and block harmful material.”

Jon Snow, the lead presenter of Channel 4 News for 32 years, has revealed he has Alzheimer's disease. During his career, he reported on stories including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the release of Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama's inauguration, receiving numerous awards including the BAFTA Fellowship in 2015. In a new Channel 4 documentary, made in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Society, Jon Snow: A Last Big Story, he is seen uncovering an environmental disaster in Zambia. In her first broadcast interview since the diagnosis was announced, Jon’s wife, Dr Precious Lunga, joins Anita to talk about how they are navigating life now.

Testing the microbiome of your vagina is increasing in popularity, with direct-to-consumer companies offering at-home tests and claiming that this information is critical to women's health. Anita speaks with Dame Lesley Regan, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Imperial College London, and Dr Caroline Mitchell, Professor of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School, to discuss what we know about the vaginal microbiome and the recent surge in private testing. New novel Mrs Dickens by Emily Howes, tells the imagined story of Kate Hogarth, wife of the writer and journalist Charles Dickens. She is much loved at first, but as Charles finds fame and the family rise through the ranks of Victorian society, Charles’s attitude towards Kate changes and she is devastated. Emily talks to Anita about how she pieced together and embellished the invisible life of Kate, a woman who bore Charles 10 children during a 22-year marriage and had an unparalleled view of one of the world’s greatest writers.

Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Corinna Jones

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

0:07.5

From that crazy viral video to bizarre trends that are taking over our social feeds.

0:12.7

We investigate the stuff you're scrolling through in our brand new podcast, top comment.

0:17.9

I'm BBC correspondent, Mariana Spring.

0:20.2

And I'm investigative reporter Matt Shea.

0:22.0

Every week we look at the stories spilling out from our screens and into real life.

0:26.0

To work out what's actually real.

0:28.0

And what's not.

0:29.3

Top comment.

0:30.4

Listen on BBC Sounds.

0:33.8

Hello, I'm Anita Rani and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4.

0:39.2

Good morning and welcome to the programme.

0:42.3

Now we all know who Charles Dickens is.

0:44.1

Most of us know his famous books and brilliant characters he brought to life.

0:47.7

But what about his personal life?

0:49.9

Who was the woman he was married to who bore him 10 children?

0:54.2

Well, Mrs. Dickens is a new novel that imagines who she was and what her life may have been.

0:59.0

Based on the little information available, the author Emily Howes, will be here to tell us all about it.

1:05.5

Viginal microbiomes. What are they? We'll be finding out.

1:10.2

Dame Leslie Regan, the government's women's health ambassador will be here to tell us more.

1:15.2

And John Snow, Channel 4 News anchor for 32 years, has revealed he has Alzheimer's disease.

1:21.3

In a beautiful new documentary, we see John travel to Zambia to uncover a story.

...

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